Vampires!  Awesome!

Moonlight, the new CBS drama about a vampire who copes with living in the modern world while being a private detective, debuts tonight and the reviews have been what you would call “mediocre”.  But, what do the critics know, right?  It's a show about a vampire, which is an automatic turn on for certain groups of the population, and these vampire-lovers will likely give Moonlight a chance to impress regardless of what anybody says.  Ghost Whisperer, Moonlight's Friday night companion, gets poor reviews amidst similar thematic elements, and that show's entering its third season.  Frankly, no one knows how Moonlight's going to perform in the ratings, because it's in the type of genre that holds rabid fans who couldn't give less of a crap what the majority thinks. 

My problem with the whole idea of Moonlight is that we've seen it before, and probably better, on a show called Angel.  The vampire thing has been done over and over and over again.  Does it have any juice left in the tank?  Moonlight's gimmick is that our vampire private detective will squash many of the vampire myths.  He can go out into sunlight, though it gives him cramps, and stuff like garlic and crosses have little effect.  Also, he doesn't kill people for their blood, but gets it from a hospital.  To me, that's all fine and good, but does it really constitute a new direction for television vampires? 

The Joss Whedon double team of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are forever going to make any other television attempt at a vampire story seem weak by comparison.  Moonlight should be judged on its own merits, but it won't, and though that's unfair it could also be an indicator that audiences don't really need more vampires.  The most prevalent character in the history of film is Dracula.  The vampire story well would appear to be dry.  Moonlight is going to set out to prove the opposite.  Maybe it will, maybe it won't.

-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)